I’ve had rear-wheel problems with Nermal since I got that bike. I had swapped out the low-quality wheel for another low-quality wheel, and had the same spoke-breakage problems.
The wheel was also a 7-speed freewheel design, which isn’t noted for it’s durability. A cassette design is much better, but 7-speed cassette hubs are pretty much obsolete. For more about freewheel vs cassette hubs, see here.
I found a set (front and rear) of hubs with 7-speed cassette on eBay a while back. They are Shimano Deore XT hubs, with a Shimano 7-speed Hyperglide Cassette. Yep, this stuff is obsolete, but it will work on my bike without changing out the rest of the drivetrain.
I had Tom build a new rear wheel with that hub, a Velocity Dyad rim, and double-butted spokes from Bluegrass Bicycle.
I managed to destroy that wheel before even putting it on my bike. Tom rebuilt the wheel for me, and it’s now on Nermal. I also installed the new Planet Bike fenders that I ordered to replace the set where I destroyed the front one.
After getting everything put together I went for a ride around town, then rode to Charlestown Pizza Company for lasagna and beer.
That’s probably the best photo showing the spoke washers I’ve seen. I’ve taken a couple pictures of wheels I’ve built, but the camera’s were of such poor quality that they wouldn’t do close-up work that well.
Nermal looks almost fiesty and rarin’ to go.
My camera has a decent zoom lens. I didn’t really get that close. Decent lens, poor sensor. 🙂
Nermal is definitely fiesty and ready to ride. I rode him to work today. The higher gearing was nice. I made it to work in 1:15, which is a record on this bike.